MONTHS OF SUNDAYS WITH 'LITTLE NEMO'

By J.R. COCHRAN

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS|

Dec 14, 1997 | 12:00 AM

'Little Nemo in Slumberland" was anything but little. For one thing, the strip occupied a full broadsheet page in the Sunday funnies. For another, it was one of the grandest strips in the history of the comics, and certainly one of the most beautifully drawn. For yet another, Nemo has the distinction of appearing in one of the first animated cartoons. It even inspired its own operetta in 1908, with music by Victor Herbert. In the nearly 100 years since the Yellow Kid popularized the idea of using the undershirt to convey a message, "Little Nemo" remains one of the masterpieces of comic art. Just in time for holiday giving, a new collection of "Nemo" Sundays, "The Best of Little Nemo in Slumberland," has been published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang. The oversized tome which includes essays from Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson (Calvin, all is forgiven, please come home) and Chuck Jones spans Nemo's career, from his glorious beginnings when Winsor McCay took the comics pages by storm to his final appearances in the mid-'20s. Richard Marschall, author of "America's Great Comic-Strip Artists," is the editor of the "Nemo" colllection. Another comic-art collection worthy of a hefty stocking is "Superman: Action Comics Archive" from DC Comics. Superman made his debut in Action Comics, way back in June 1938. Despite his superpowers, he didn't get his own title until the following January. The DC Archives book reprints the first Superman story, from Action Comics No. 1 which now costs an untold number of arms and legs as well as his appearances in issues 7 through 20. Why the lapse? Superman, the creation of Cleveland 17-year-olds Joe Shuster and Jerome Siegel, was the first superhero, and DC didn't know if he would fly. DC's Archives collections represent the real classic comics, gorgeous reprints of the earliest superhero stories. Wonder Woman is the next to be honored, come January. Would that Jack Cole's Plastic Man would be similarly feted. Speaking of golden oldies, "The Golden Age of Marvel Comics" is also just hot off the presses. Look for vintage chapters in the lives of the Sub-Mariner, the Human Torch and Captain America, not to mention the Red Skull and the Yellow Claw. Namor reprises his first appearance from the giveaway magazine Motion Picture Funnies Weekly in 1939. That Daily News newsstand poster mentioned in Word Balloons for Nov. 23d sold at auction for $801 (Whew!) from Just Kids Nostalgia in Huntington, L.